A/N- gotta get this up before the SuperBowl, so I'll keep the notes short!
A SPECIAL NOTE ON THIS CHAPTER- Usually I try to keep things in chronological order, and include flashbacks as segments, not whole chapters. However, this would have been nearly impossible for me to fit into the last chapter and still get done what I needed to get done, so... it is its own chapter. This takes place the first night Hermione stayed at Grimmauld, some two weeks prior to where the last chapter ended off, or, the night of the day the last chapter began. Their second night at Grimmauld. Oh, you all get it, I'm gonna stop explaining now. Enjoy.
Chapter XVIII- Girl Talk
It was easily midnight before the lot of them headed up to bed, having spent the day catching up on each others' summers, working on a few of the spells Draco had thought 'might help' and digging through the dusty shelves of the Black family library. Hermione had been rather surprised, really, at how well the day had gone. She really had expected to spend most of it un-cursing or un-hexing someone, most likely Ron. However, despite several rude comments and a few hateful glares and glances, they had managed to not kill each other, something Hermione was grateful for, though a bit confused by. After all, what should she have expected? Putting Draco Malfoy under the same roof as their little troop of Gryffindors would have been a sign of the apocalypse before, so she really had no idea what had happened. What, exactly, had made Malfoy... well, not nice, per se, but tolerable? It was something she really needed to sort out.
Harry's story (punctuated with details by Draco) about how the boys had wound up living together for the past few weeks had certainly sparked her interest, and she got the feeling there were details left out. For one, being quite observant, she noticed that Malfoy staunchly avoided talking about whatever incident drove him from his home (besides that there were DeathEaters involved, and his mother was killed), and that there was no mention of how he got from Malfoy Manor (which was supposedly so well hidden that you couldn't find it unless you already knew where it was, and quite far away from Muggles of any sort) to the suburbs of London, on his own, at night, bleeding profusely. She had been tempted to ask flat-out, but was fairly well assured that any answer she would get would be a lie, if she got an answer at all. Some things, it seemed, were off-limits. For instance, the one other thing she had wanted an answer to: Why had Harry let him stay? She knew, of course, that Harry was naturally kind, but she couldn't see that natural kindness so easily getting him over the fact that Malfoy's father had been partially responsible for Sirius' death, not to mention many others.
She felt, at the end of the day, that there was some detail she was missing. Some tiny little thing that she hadn't noticed, hadn't seen or reasoned out, that would explain the whole thing. There had to be some key that would just make everything fall click into place. Something. She had changed into her nightclothes and was still pondering the issue when Ginny knocked politely and entered their room (having been using the bathroom before the boys could monopolize it). The redheaded girl looked a bit nervous, Hermione noticed, she was quivering in that way which made it obvious that she wanted to say something but was barely stopping herself. Catching this, Hermione shut the door and sat down on the bed that they were to share (the other bed in the room being for Mrs. Weasley). She regarded Ginny thoughtfully for a moment as the younger girl sat down. What she wanted to talk about, Hermione had no idea, but with the way she was acting, it seemed important. Beyond that, though, Hermione wanted to ask her for her opinions about the situation with Malfoy. Just maybe, and it was a big maybe, Ginny would have noticed something that Hermione had overlooked.
Hermione was not disappointed. Ginny had barely been able to contain herself all day, as she observed the actions of Harry and Draco during their introduction to the DeathEaters' countercurses, their scouring of the library for good information. Every time she turned around there was something going on between them that was so close to being suggestive, but wasn't. It had been tantalizing her mind all day, and she was hoping Hermione could shed some light on it. Ginny was thankful that Hermione broke the ice.
"You want to talk about something, right?" The older girl smiled warmly, and Ginny was instantly reassured that Hermione would take her thoughts seriously, not brush them off as silly or disgusting. Taking a deep breath, she started explaining by asking a question.
"Did you notice Draco's new owl?" Hermione was slightly thrown by the question, and also the casual way that Ginny used the boy's given name. Still, she nodded.
"Yes. He named it Zephyr, if I remember correctly." Ginny smiled and nodded.
"Yep, that's right. He got it yesterday, on our shopping trip." Hermione was quietly nodding along, unsure of the direction of this conversation. Ginny had been so worked up over talking about Malfoy's owl? Something didn't add up.
"What are you trying to get at, Gin? This can't be about Malfoy's new owl." Hermione regarded the other girl with a bit of befuddlement. It was an unusual expression for Hermione. Ginny took another deep breath.
"Well, it is, actually. Among other things. See, I think Harry gave it to him." Ginny scrutinized Hermione's face, searching for her reaction to the statement. The first was obvious skepticism.
"And where did you get that idea? You and I both know that Malfoy doesn't need anyone to give him an owl. If he wanted one, he'd get it himself." The question did throw Ginny a little. She had, of course, known that the Malfoys had far in excess of the money needed to purchase an owl. If they wanted to, they could probably supply every witch and wizard in Britain with a brand new Firebolt, and still have enough money left over to buy half of France. But still, she just knew that he hadn't bought it for himself. And she did have evidence.
"I saw him, yesterday, when we were sitting at Fortescue's. Do you remember? Maybe you didn't notice, but he kept looking at that owl, and I saw him mouth 'thank you' at Harry. I swear I did. And besides that, do you honestly think that Harry picked out all those clothes he showed up with? You know I had a crush on him for a long time, but even I will admit that Harry completely lacks any sense of fashion."
Sadly, Hermione had to agree. And she had noticed, now that she thought about it, that Draco had been shooting an inordinately high number of glances down to the owl's cage while they had been eating and talking. He had seemed, in retrospect, to be almost worried about it. As though it would disappear if he didn't keep checking. And she had noticed the little smiles that played across his face whenever he did. The supposed 'thank you', though, she hadn't seen. She doubted, though, that Ginny would lie about such a thing. And then there were the bags of clothing, all the pieces of which looked 1) expensive, 2) like they actually fit, and 3) as if they went together. It was truly a miracle beyond all miracles. Harry was miserable at matching anything unless it was covered with Gryffindor insignia.
After giving Hermione a moment to go over all of this, Ginny continued.
"And, you didn't see it, but when we showed up, Draco was wearing one of Harry's shirts. And a Gryffindor shirt, at that! And he wasn't even complaining about it" Despite her misgivings, Hermione idly wished she could have seen that. And, thinking about it, Draco probably looked quite good in red, much the same way Harry looked smashing in emerald greens. Not that either would ever really admit it, of course.
"And then, you had to have noticed just how... I don't know, touchy they are. Harry's not unfriendly, but he doesn't usually play around that much, not even with Ron or the other boys. And Draco doesn't touch anybody." Hermione nodded again. It was common knowledge that the Prince of Slytherins detested being touched unless he touched first (which, as a rule, he didn't).
"Well, haven't you seen them? They're always touching each other! Think about it. I think both of them must have bruised ribs from all the elbowing they've been doing, and did you notice how neither of them was upset at all when Harry landed on him while he while he was trying to block the Arietis Curse?" Hermione had noticed, but hadn't thought anything of it. Such things had been common in the DA practice sessions, and everyone had been good-natured about accidents. At the time, it had seemed normal, but looking back... Ginny was right. Every time she had looked at the two of them, they had been near each other, talking to each other, touching each other...
As Hermione's brain finally went click, her eyes opened wide. "You don't think? No, it's not possible... is it" A slow smile spread across her face as she fit some remaining pieces into place. It made sense. It just made sense. But how? When? And more importantly, Why? She knew that the boys' relationship had always been rather passionate. Just at the opposite end of the spectrum from "love". The way opposite end. The "mortal enemies" end, more like. That was the only piece that wouldn't fit. It was the right size, but the shape just wouldn't squish itself into Hermione's mental picture of what had been going on.
"Don't tell them anything though, okay Hermione?" Ginny looked nervous, and Hermione asked why. "I don't want to be wrong, is all. I mean, what if we say something, but we're totally wrong?" Hermione thought about that for a moment, and came to the same conclusion Ginny had come to earlier. They would need more proof, more information. And in the time it took to gather that, maybe they'd come out and be honest about the whole thing. Yes, that would be the most prudent plan. With that decided, and grateful that she had Hermione's confidence in this, Ginny moved on to more important topics.
"So, do you think they've... you know, done it?" She was practically whispering, as though afraid one of the boys was listening at the door. Hermione's jaw dropped.
"Ginny!" She hissed, though she was grinning at the same time, which rather ruined her intended effect.
"What?" Ginny shrugged. "Even if he is a Slytherin, you have to admit he's fine. I wouldn't say no." She grinned slyly, prompting a brief look of shock from her companion. Hermione somehow managed to gape and laugh at the same time.
"You should be glad that Ron doesn't know you think about things like this." Hermione lightly admonished, remembering how overprotective Ron could be of his little sister. Ginny giggled.
"Which is probably why I still haven't told Ron about Dean, now isn't it" Hermione rolled her eyes, but settled in for an evening of talking about the ever-popular topic"The Care and Training of Boys" (also sometimes referred to as "Idiots and Why We Love Them Anyway", available at your local girls' overnight for the low, low price of a bag of something with chocolate content).